


Fundamentals of Fake Dating

by dearzoemurphy



Series: 100 Ways to Say "I Love You" [12]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergent, F/F, Fake Dating, Mid-Canon, School Dances, classic 'fake date to the school dance that turns into a realization of feelings', season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:06:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24999562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearzoemurphy/pseuds/dearzoemurphy
Summary: 100 ways to say 'I love you' #89: I noticed“Okay, so this is gonna sound crazy, but…will you go to the Snow Ball with me?”Annie blinked slowly. “I’m sorry, what?” she asked. She wasn’t exactly sure how to process Britta’s request.“Listen, I kind of made a bet with Jeff about who can get a date first. And I might have overestimated how much was in my bank account when we finalized it,” Britta began to explain. She paused to pant, still recovering from her sprint. “I don't know a lot of people here anymore. So I figured that it would be easier just to ask one of my friends. I kind of really need to win, ” she added sheepishly.Britta convinces Annie to take part in a con and things go about as well as anyone could have expected. Takes place mid-season 6 after Britta has moved in with Annie and Abed.
Relationships: Annie Edison/Britta Perry, Frankie Dart & the Study Group, Jeff Winger & Britta Perry & Abed Nadir & Annie Edison
Series: 100 Ways to Say "I Love You" [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1257944
Comments: 7
Kudos: 59





	Fundamentals of Fake Dating

**Author's Note:**

> back on my brittannie bs!! hope you all enjoy <3

“Hey, Annie! Annie!” Britta called, running across the Greendale quad.

The brunette spun around to see Britta hurtling towards her, waving frantically in her direction.

“Britta? What is it?”

The aspiring psychologist came to a halt in front of her friend and took a moment to catch her breath. “Okay, so this is gonna sound crazy, but…will you go to the Snow Ball with me?”

Annie blinked slowly. “I’m sorry, what?” she asked. She wasn’t exactly sure how to process Britta’s request.

“Listen, I kind of made a bet with Jeff about who can get a date first. And I might have overestimated how much was in my bank account when we finalized it,” Britta began to explain. She paused to pant, still recovering from her sprint. “I don't know a lot of people here anymore. So I figured that it would be easier just to ask one of my friends. I kind of really need to win, ” she added sheepishly.

“Okay, but wait…why me, specifically? I could tell Jeff that you asked me to go with you just to win the bet,” Annie countered, crossing her arms under her chest.

“I thought that you might not tell him if I put the earnings towards this month’s rent,” Britta said with a broad smile.

The brunette took a moment to consider the proposition. _“Is that really all it’s going to take to convince me to do this? Help with the rent this month would be nice…wait, am I actually about to say yes?”_

“You promise?” Annie asked. Her classic doe eyes made a brief and subconscious appearance.

Britta looked surprised that she already seemed willing to take part in her scheme. “Y- yes! Of course. Cross my heart,” she said.

“Okay. I’m in. I’ll go with you.”

The blonde squealed and sprung forward to wrap Annie in a tight hug. “Thank you! We’re gonna make bank! And have a fun night, of course,” she said.

Annie returned the embrace, patting Britta’s back somewhat awkwardly. “Wait, how are we going to convince Jeff that this is a real date? Won't he be instantly suspicious?” she asked as they pulled apart.

Britta shrugged. “He probably wouldn’t expect you to team up with me. In fact, he’s probably trying to find you right now to get you to team up with him,” she said, trying to ignore the flustered look on Annie’s face, “As long as you or Abed don’t mention me paying towards the rent, we should be fine.”

The brunette nodded solemnly. “I guess you’re right. And as long as we act like a couple…in front of him and everyone else,” she trailed off, her gaze drifting down to the ground.

Britta leaned in next to Annie’s ear. “Guess we better get started on that,” she whispered. She gave the other girl a peck on the cheek before quickly pulling away and smirking conspiratorially.

Annie felt her face flush and pushed down the sudden fluttery feeling in her stomach. “Yeah. We can keep working on that,” she said.

“Yeah, I can’t wait!” the blonde exclaimed, “But really, thanks for doing this. Jeff is gonna flip out,” she added excitedly.

“Mhm! Anything to pay rent, amiright?” Annie said with an overly enthusiastic grin, playfully elbowing Britta in the side.

“Absolutely!” Britta said happily.

Annie tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and reformed her mouth into a gentle smile. _“There’s nothing that can go wrong with this. Right?”_

\---

“There’s no way that you’re actually going with her, is there?” Jeff asked incredulously. Britta had proudly announced the news as she entered the study room that afternoon, leaving everyone else reeling.

Annie looked across the table to the blonde, who smiled encouragingly. “Yes. I am. We’re going together. As a couple,” she said, doing her best to be convincing.

“No way,” Chang said from the other end of the table.

“It’s not an impossible scenario. Unlikely, yes. But not impossible. I’ve run something like this before,” Abed said. Frankie remained a silent observer, but nodded thoughtfully as she examined the two other women.

Britta grinned. “See? This is legit! Annie and I have been into each other for a while, haven’t we?”

“Mhm! Absolutely,” Annie confirmed.

Jeff glanced at her and then Britta suspiciously. “This isn’t a con just to swindle me out of my money, is it?” he asked. The girls exchanged fearful looks before quickly jumping in to defend themselves.

“No, no, of course not!” Annie exclaimed.

“We would never do such a thing!” Britta said with an overly indignant gasp.

“There’s a 57% chance that this is a con. But there’s a 43% chance that they’ve overcome their compulsory heterosexuality and discovered hidden feelings for one another. There’s an overlap of 13% where this is both a con and them realizing their romantic feelings,” Abed chimed in.

“Thanks, Abed,” Britta grumbled sarcastically.

“Oh, why are you all so cynical? Can’t you just be happy for your friends?” Frankie asked, sounding slightly exasperated.

“If we’re in the 57%, I’m okay with calling the bet off,” Jeff said, ignoring her outburst.

Britta eyed him suspiciously. “What’s the catch?”

“Catch? There is no catch! You just have to admit that I am superior, romantically and sexually, to you,” he said with a broad grin.

“That’s okay! No need to worry, because you don’t need to call off the bet! I’m her official date to the Snow Ball,” Annie interjected.

Britta’s face softened. “Exactly. I don’t need to admit anything,” she said, reaching one hand across the table. Annie stretched her arm out to the middle of the table and took the hand offered to her, smiling softly.

“That’s pretty gay,” Chang said.

“That’s kind of the point,” Britta replied with a sigh.

\---

A week passed and the day of the dance was upon Greendale. The group tried to help plan and throw it, but Frankie had cryptically told them that it was all under control. This gave Annie and Britta time to put a considerable amount of effort into keeping up appearances. They walked to every class together, held hands whenever they could, and gave each other pecks on the cheek to say goodbye. Annie knew it all was fake. But she had trouble remembering that sometimes when Britta’s thumb would gently trace the outside of her hand or when they would let a hug linger for a few more seconds than usual. She wasn’t used to receiving much affection, physical or otherwise, and found that she enjoyed it more than she expected to.

Jeff was doing a good job of playing it cool and pretending like he didn’t care about the whole affair. He would say things like “bringing a date to a Greendale dance is practically the same thing as giving up” or, more simply, “the whole thing was stupid, I don’t know why I even wanted to find a date in the first place” whenever his friends would talk about the upcoming Snow Ball. However, he withdrew the cash amount that had been agreed upon and promised that he would give it to Britta after the dance. He was a man of his word and had a reputation to uphold.

The pair decided that the hardest person to fool would be Abed, since they lived with him. They debated coming clean, but decided that there was too much risk involved for it to be worth it. So instead, for the whole week, they cuddled on the couch in apartment 303 while watching Cougartown reruns, called each other ‘babe’ or ‘sweetie’, and ate dinner sitting side-by-side. Britta couldn’t shake the feeling that he was watching and waiting for them to slip up, so a couple of times that week, she overcompensated by practically showering Annie with affection or gifting her flowers from the sustainable florist down the street. Annie found that she didn’t mind being on the receiving end of such gestures, but didn’t allow herself to think critically about it for too long.

So after a week of masterful deception, Britta was scanning her section of Annie’s closet and deciding what to wear.

“I should have looked earlier this week…too formal…not formal enough…” she grumbled as she flipped through hangers.

“Hey, Britta?” Annie called softly from the doorway.

“Yes, babe?”

“Can you, um, zip me up? I couldn’t quite reach it,” the brunette requested.

Britta pulled her head out of the closet to see her friend and felt her jaw almost hit the floor.

Annie stood before her in a floor length sky blue dress. Flowers adorned the off-the-shoulder sweetheart neckline and trailed down the bodice to the top of the skirt. The top was loose on her as it wasn’t zipped up yet, but it still worked to show off her curves in its current state.

“Wow. I mean, yeah! Of course,” Britta said, rushing over.

The brunette giggled at her friend’s surprise. “I kind of went all out,” she said.

“I noticed,” Britta said appreciatively. She found the base of the zipper and slowly began tugging it up, her thumb grazing Annie’s bare skin as she went. The touch sent an involuntary shiver down her spine.

Annie’s breath hitched for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. “Yeah, I, uh…found it at a secondhand shop this week. It looked like what I would have wanted to wear to prom,” she explained. She turned around and smiled at the blonde.

“It’s…it’s gorgeous. You’re gorgeous,” Britta stuttered.

“Aw, thanks! I still have to finish my hair and makeup, but do you need me to zip you first?” Annie asked.

“Um, sure! Yeah, that’d be great, let me just get my dress out…” Britta said, running back to rummage through the closet. She produced a light gray, almost silver, dress with a sheer overlay, floor length skirt, cinched waist, and plunging neckline, quickly deciding to match Annie’s level of formality.

“Ooo, where did you get that?” Annie asked.

“A vintage store, a while ago. When I had extra money to blow,” Britta explained, “I told myself I’d have occasions to wear it, but haven’t found any until tonight.” She gave the brunette a sideways glance, prompting her to close the door and look away so that she could change.

“That’s nice. It looks beautiful, I can’t wait to see it on you.”

Britta was quickly kicking her jeans and v-neck shirt to the side and pulling the dress on as fast as possible. “I’m almost ready…” she said, thrusting her arms into the straps and adjusting the top, “Okay. Ready now.”

Annie turned around, it now being her turn to have her jaw hit the floor. The dress was stunning on its own, but was made better by perfectly highlighting Britta’s figure.

“Oh my god. I see why you had to buy it,” she said in a completely heterosexual manner.

Britta couldn’t help the slightly smug smile spreading across her face. “I know, right?! Can you zip me?”

“Oh! Yes, of course. Sorry,” Annie said quickly, moving over as Britta swept her hair over one shoulder and turned around to give her easy access.

“No need to apologize,” the blonde said softly.

Annie did what she could to stop her hand from shaking as she fumbled to find the zipper and carefully brought it up over the curve of Britta’s back. She felt unusually flustered and was doing her best not to think about it.

“Thanks,” Britta said, turning around and coming face to face with the brunette. She gazed into Annie’s eyes as the brunette subconsciously parted her lips. They maintained eye contact for a moment before abruptly breaking away in hopes of dissipating the tension.

“No problem. I’m gonna do my makeup in here, so…” Annie squeaked.

“Great, I’ll go do mine in the bathroom,” Britta said quickly, scurrying out of the room as fast as she could.

\---

About thirty minutes later, the pair was pulling into the Greendale student parking lot. The car ride had been mostly silent, the girls only exchanging minimal small talk.

Annie wasn’t exactly sure how to relieve the tension that seemed to hang heavy in the air. She’d been mostly trying to ignore it. However, the number of feelings she was ignoring kept growing and she could no longer deny the pile that had built up over the week.

“You ready to rock this thing?” Britta asked.

Annie took a deep breath. “Yeah. Let’s knock it out.”

With that, they swung out of the car and circled around to the front of it. Britta did her best to steady herself as she offered a bent arm to her friend.

“Milady?” she said unsurely.

The corners of Annie’s mouth twitched up into a curious smile. “Milady,” she replied as she looped her arm over Britta’s. Her gaze kept darting over to the blonde as they made their way to the entrance of the cafeteria where the dance was being held. Britta almost looked nervous, making Annie feel a strange sense of pride. She had almost entirely forgotten that this was a scheme until she locked eyes on Jeff and Abed entering the building in front of them. Jeff had his phone in one hand, texting god knows who as Abed appeared to be talking to him.

“Oh, look who the cat dragged in,” Britta said as they approached the double doors.

They both turned around to face their friends, Jeff attempting to hide his extremely visible shock.

“Wow. You guys really went all out,” he said, stunned.

Annie giggled at his use of her expression from earlier. “We did.”

“We figured, why not have a little fun on our first public outing as a couple?” Britta added.

“Even if you guys are fooling me, you deserve the money based on commitment alone,” Jeff said appreciatively.

Abed eyed the pair suspiciously for a moment before bringing his face to rest in a relaxed smile. “Tonight should be fun. Chang told me that the DJ cancelled at the last minute, so he’s filling in,” he said.

“I know Frankie and the Dean are here to supervise the students but I feel like they might have to direct their attention elsewhere,” Jeff muttered as he held the door open and ushered his friends inside.

“You can say that again,” Britta said with a chuckle. However, it quickly became difficult for all of them to stay focused on the conversation when the cafeteria came into view. They stepped into the sitting area beside the vending machines and barely registered that it was where they were. Whoever decorated had gone all out, draping fluffy snow-like fabric over every visible surface. Snowflake sequins were sprinkled all over the ground, silver streamers were hung on the walls, and delicate fairy lights had been wound around every column and support beam.

“Oh my god,” Britta breathed.

“The one event we’re not tasked with turns out to be the most professional. Go figure,” Jeff grumbled.

“I never thought I’d say this, but this place looks…beautiful,” Annie said in awe.

“Hey guys! You made it!”

The group turned to see Frankie approaching them, a clear plastic cup in hand and a broad smile plastered on her face.

“We did!” Britta exclaimed. She noticed that her and Annie’s arms were still linked together and shifted to hold her hand instead.

“Who did this? I mean, really. Who put time, money, and effort into a Greendale Community College dance?” Jeff asked.

Frankie gave an amused laugh. “Funny you say that, most of this was me! I felt bad since I cut the number of yearly dances down by almost 500%, so I wanted to make it up to the Dean in a weird sort of way. Plus, I wanted to give you all a little surprise,” she explained proudly.

“Aw, that’s why you told us not to worry about planning!” Annie squealed, letting go of Britta’s hand and springing forward to envelope Frankie in a tight embrace, “It’s a great surprise.”

Britta ignored the twitch of what was probably jealousy in her stomach as Frankie hugged Annie back.

“I’m glad. I hope whatever Chang plays will be suitable,” Frankie said somewhat nervously.

“I hope it’s not. For maximum hijinks,” Abed said, deadpan.

The dark haired woman nodded as she let Annie go. “Sure, sure. Anyway, go enjoy the dance! Don’t let me hold you back,” she said.

Jeff smiled appreciatively before making a beeline for the table of the refreshments to see if there was anything that would pair well with the scotch in the flask in his pocket. Abed went off into the crowd, potentially in search of one of his occasional off-screen girlfriends.

“I’m gonna go get something to drink, want anything?” Annie asked, turning to look at Britta.

“Sure. Just get two of whatever you want,” the blonde replied. Annie smiled and nodded before scurrying off in the direction Jeff had gone.

“You two are so cute together,” Frankie said once her and Britta were alone.

“Hm? Oh! Yes, thank you.”

“I’m always so happy to see other women find each other and not be quiet about it. Pardon my inferring, but it seems like you have something really special.”

Britta cringed, feeling equal parts shame and remorse. Possible responses swirled around in her head. However, it didn’t take her long to settle on one.

“Oh, well…I hate to burst your bubble, but…Jeff was right,” she said, looking down at the ground. She felt like she owed the truth to Frankie.

“What do you mean?”

“We’re doing this to win the bet.”

Frankie carefully studied Britta’s face for a moment before shrugging and taking a sip of her punch. “Well, that’s none of my business. You two have been very convincing for it all to be fake,” she said nonchalantly.

“Yeah, had to keep up appearances, you know? Couldn’t have Jeff finding out,” Britta said with a nervous laugh.

“Hey! I got us both punch,” Annie said excitedly, zipping up out of nowhere.

“Oh, great! Thanks, babe,” Britta said, taking the cup offered to her and instinctively kissing her on the cheek.

Frankie gave an amused smile, looking at Britta in particular. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. If you need me, I’ll probably be monitoring the coat closets and the womens’ bathrooms,” she said, raising her cup before moving along.

Britta’s face flushed involuntarily. “Okay. See you around!”

“So…”

“So?”

“Do you think Jeff’s buying it?” Annie asked.

“Oh, absolutely! Did you see the look on his face? He even said that if he found out we were lying, he’d still give us the money,” Britta replied excitedly.

“I know! We have been pretty dedicated to this,” the brunette said.

“Yeah. I guess we have…” her date said, trailing off.

Annie pursed her lips, feeling overcome with some kind of concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing. Just thinking…”

Britta wasn’t lying. She was thinking. Thinking about how she had put more energy into a week-long fake relationship than most of her actual relationships. Thinking about how she felt more jealous over a hug than she had about any of her past boyfriends actually cheating on her.

Annie was doing some thinking of her own. Mostly about how it had felt to have Britta’s knuckle dragging slowly up her back. And then how it had felt to take her arm the way she usually took Jeff’s.

It was as if DJ Chang could sense the current mood between them and knew exactly the right thing to play. A slow, melodic song kicked on, prompting the students on the cafeteria floor to pair off and start swaying to the beat.

Britta looked at Annie in the soft glow; her Cinderella-like dress, her hair curled and swept over one shoulder and eyes painted with a gold shimmer.

“Should we…I mean, do you…may I have this dance?”

Annie giggled. “You may,” she said, taking Britta by the hand and leading her from where they were standing by the couches next to the vending machines and to the makeshift dance floor. The blonde felt her heart get caught in her throat as Annie placed one hand delicately on her shoulder. This prompted her to lay her free hand on Annie’s waist to pull her closer. The fingers on their free hands twined together as they joined the rest of the party in swaying along to the music.

“You know…this week has been really nice. I’ve liked spending more time with you, Britta,” Annie said.

“Aw. I’ve liked spending time with you, too. I can’t believe that after six years of being in the group and a few months of living together, we’ve never had this much one-on-one time,” the blonde replied.

Her dancing partner smiled. “ I know, right? Plus, you’re like, really romantic. You got me all the right flowers and knew how I liked to be cuddled without me having to tell you…that kind of was a lot of work just to fool Abed, wasn’t it?”

Britta felt an onset of sudden panic. “Well, yeah! Abed’s very perceptive, I had to do everything right,” she said. She felt herself drifting away from Annie ever so slightly.

“I guess so…but, um, can I ask you a question?” Annie said.

“Of course, shoot.”

“Do you remember how Abed said that there’s a 13% chance that we could be pulling a con and realizing our romantic feelings for each other at the same time?” Annie asked.

“Well…yeah. Of course I remember. How could I forget? Not in a weird way, just not forgetting in a completely normal, heterosexual way,” Britta sputtered.

“Yeah, same here! But um…you don’t maybe think that there’s a tiny little itty bitty chance…”

“That we’re in a timeline within that 13%?”

Annie stared at Britta with wide eyes, unsure of what to say. She felt like her brain was filling up with cotton candy, her mouth with sticky saltwater taffy. “Yes? I mean, yes, that’s what I meant, not yes, we’re in that timeline. But we might be, right?” she said, the pitch of her voice getting higher and higher.

The blonde bit her lip and looked down. “We might be.”

“You mean it?” Annie whispered.

Britta looked back up to meet her friend’s gaze, noticing her shining eyes and trembling lips. “I mean it,” she whispered back. They looked at each other for a moment, expressions morphing to those of people having sudden realizations.

Without a second thought or any hesitation, her hand flew from Annie’s waist to the side of her face as their eyes shut and their lips parted to make room for the other’s. When they connected, Britta thought she felt a shock of electricity.

It was over as soon as it had happened, leaving the two women to gaze at each other in the soft light.

“That was…”

“I think we should do that again,” Annie interrupted.

“I think so, too,” Britta agreed, moving to wrap her arm around the brunette’s shoulders and pulling her even closer. Annie gave a muffled and delighted squeal as their lips met again. They were still swaying to the rhythm of the song and seemed to fall into a similar rhythm with their mouths.

Across the dance floor, Jeff took a sip straight from his flask. “You know, if you told me that this week would end with Britta and Annie making out in the middle of the Snow Ball, I would have said you were crazy,” he joked.

“We’re in the 13%,” Abed said as he observed the new couple.

“Excuse me?”

“The 13%. One of the timelines where this started as a con, but ended with them discovering true feelings for one another,” he elaborated.

Jeff smirked as he corked his flask. “Whatever. I’m happy for them, I guess.”

Abed nodded wisely. “Me too.”

\---

“And with this, I will pay my full share of the rent for the first time in our history of living together!” Britta exclaimed triumphantly as she took a wad of cash from Jeff.

“I’m so proud of you,” Annie said, beaming.

“Proud of her for what? Being bad at pulling cons?” Jeff asked, looking up from his phone for a moment.

“Excuse you, I am great at pulling cons. It worked, didn’t it?” Britta said.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think that you’re supposed to fall for the person you fake date. That defeats the purpose of the fake dating,” he shot back.

Britta childishly stuck her tongue out at him as Frankie shook her head at their antics.

“Okay, can we just move on to talk about how we’re going to deal with the Revive the Human Being movement? That costume is recklessly unsafe, but we should redesign it to give the people what they want,” she chimed in.

The group grumbled, but nodded in agreement. Annie produced her committee binder and flipped to a relevant page.

“Alright, so I have a few concept sketches from the art department for a safe yet familiar Human Being…” she began.

Britta was paying attention, but wasn’t exactly listening to what her girlfriend was saying. She was too busy admiring her enthusiastic smile and lyrical voice and wondering how she got so lucky.

**Author's Note:**

> let me know any thoughts/opinions/critiques/etc. down below! I've never written a fake dating au but the idea has always amused me, so I hope this fic used the trope alright! thanks for reading, hope you all are doing well! <3


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